1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to paperboard boxes which are adaptable for storage of a single pair of shoes, and more particularly to an improved shoe box which is easily convertible from its storage function into a display platform.
2. Statement of the Prior Art
A shipping container's structural design must be considered separately from its graphic elements. When packaging plays a role in sales, separation of these elements is not easy. The structure can affect the graphics, and graphic requirements may affect the structure. The two functions must be separated because, typically, at least two people are involved, each responsible for one of the two elements. The more that structure and graphics are interdependent, the more these people must work together.
Shoe box designs are no different. The structure must be durable enough to withstand shipping and storage, while the graphics must be attractive enough to quickly identify the manufacturer or merchant and spur on sales. Heretofore, the design of shoe box structures has not contemplated incorporation of any marketing function previously attributed to the design of shoe box graphics.
Every box manufacturing plant employs a structural designer. The designer must be familiar with the capabilities and limitations of every type and grade of board, every piece of equipment in the box plant, every quality control procedure and every test. Hands-on experience is backed with extensive study of design files, packaging regulations, performance characteristics, coatings, packaging machinery capabilities, customer packaging practices, and other pieces of related information. Assisted by the sales force and the customer, the designer becomes familiar with competitors.
Most structural design problems have more than one solution. Ultimately, the designer and the customer make choices. There are times when tried-and-true ideas should be adopted or adapted, and times when fresh ideas can be an advantage. The designer's task is to develop the most effective and economical combination of material and structure to achieve the packaging objective.
The first challenge is the clear and complete statement of the objective. Many elements must be considered, and they are best determined by asking a series of questions. Any question or topic that does not apply can be set aside easily, but every question that might apply must be asked. Two broad questions are basic: 1) what is the product?; and 2) what is the packaging need? As simple as those questions may sound, they are complex.
In the case of shoes, however, the answer to the former question is easy: shoes of all types, including boots, sandals, slippers, and the like, one pair each. Where such shoes are sold in specialty or retail stores, the answer to the latter question is also easy: the box must be strong enough to ship and store the shoes, simple enough to maximize the numbers of pairs of shoes that may be stored within a given unit volume, and straightforward enough to identify one style of shoes from another. Personalized service by salespersons eliminates the need for attractive, flashy outer packaging.
With high-volume discount retailers of shoes, on the other hand, there is a need for shoe boxes which are equally durable yet capable of performing a host of marketing functions. There are few if any salespersons to provide personalized service to the customers of such high-volume discount retailers. Moreover, shoes on sale at such retailers must be available at the point of sale not in the back of some storage room. Accordingly, there is a need for strong, simply designed, quickly convertible shoe boxes and display platforms that are capable of maximizing the number of shoes available on a given amount of shelf space.